www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology What is a Moleben?

I'm wondering what a "Moleben to the Mother of God" and a "Jun Moleben to the Sacred Heart of Jesus" is? This is a service at a Ukrianian Catholic Church near me. Thank you.

"Moleben to the Mother of God" covers several possibilities. In the absence of further information, I shall be charitable and suggest that it is an abbreviated Paraklisis.

"Moleben to the Sacred Heart" is a deplorable imitation of a relatively recent Roman Catholic devotion which has no proper place in any Eastern Church.

Incognitus

What a terrible remark - how insensitive.

Pavloosh,

What place does devotion to the Sacred Heart have in Eastern theology?

This will give someone a seizure too.

http://www.uaocmoisey.org/Liturgics/MolebentoChristtheLoverofMankind.dsp

Dear Pavloosh - thanks for two really good laughs. The first came when I realized that a Ruthenian parish had borrowed the Moleben to the BVM from Father Schudlo's My Divine Friend - without, of course, giving him credit. That Moleben is a drastically abridged Paraklisis with some peculiar petitions scotch-taped into it.

The Moleben to the Sacred Heart comes from a web site done by a pseudo-Orthodox sawdust group (that's three levels smaller than a splinter group); this group is unrecognized by anybody - and looking at the web site, one can readily understand why. Anyone who also wants a good horse laugh should look at that web site and read the "Hierarchal Western Orthodox Liturgy of Saint Gregory the Theologian" - poor Saint Gregory must be spinning around in his reliquaries.

Incognitus

They sure have a lot of bishops, metropolitans, major archbishops etc. etc., for being a "sawdust group".

I have no opinion about the orthodoxy of these people, but this bishop is kinda young looking:
[Linked Image]
Andrei
Major Archbishop of Canada
Archbishop of Quebec

Nicholas writes that "They sure have a lot of bishops, metropolitans, major archbishops etc. etc., for being a "sawdust group"." Ah, but that is a characteristic of sawdust groups. The typical "church" of that variety has at least a Patriarch, seven bishops - and one layman, who is the Patriarch's mother. It's all done with mirrors.

That picture of the "Major Archbishop of Canada" is curious. If the young man were to remove the mitre and sunglasses, and pose for the photograph in such a way that his face was not in deep shadow, it might be possible to determine who he really is. But perhaps the existing photograph was designed on purpose to avoid enabling the viewer to make such a determination.

Incognitus

OH GROSS.

Let us not be too hasty in condemning devotion among Byzantine Catholics to The Sacred Heart of Jesus. While the devotion has its origins in the West, it has impacted the personal devotional lives of Byzantine Catholics.

Byzantine Catholics took solace in devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary during the time of communist persecution. Such devotions susutained them when they couldn't publicly attend Divine Liturgy.

The Servant of God Metropolitan Sheptytsky had a devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and believed that such a devotion to the Heart of Jesus was in harmony with Byzantine spirituality. He felt that such devotion to the Heart of Jesus would be of great spiritual benefit to the people.

Blessed Basil Hopko was healed of an illness after having made a novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

From the Byzantine Leaflet Series #41:

"As the young Hopko was getting ready for his journey abroad he became sick and had to undergo several operations. In his Memoirs Bishop Hopko writes: "Having spent all my travelling money on doctors and hospitals, I gave up the hope of seeing my mother again. At that time I did not realize that it was God's holy will to keep me in my native land."

He ascribed his unexpected recovery to a "miracle" that resulted from his Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, He promised Jesus that if he would be cured, he would receive Holy Orders in celibacy. He was ordained priest by Bishop Paul P. Gojdich, O.S.B.M. on February 3, 1929."

Our Lord has had no problem in granting favors to Eastern Catholics who have devotion to His Sacred Heart.

Even Muslims come to pray at Tinos and receive favors from the Holy Theotokos. This does not mean that the Holy Theotokos approves of Islam!

Incognitus

Dear Incognitus,

I fail to see the analogy to Islam here!

The use of the Latinized Molebens has its own history in the UGCC and they are still popular in areas.

Patriarch Josef published a number of Molebens that he wished his people to use in their place but not everyone complied.

The question here, as always, is how to be pastorally-sensitive when trying to inspire parishioners to try our Eastern, traditional services in place of what they are used to and, in many case, strongly attached to.

Things aren't so bad over here - in E. Europe, there are EC parishes where they expect their priests to serve the "Hours of the Virgin Mary, of the Passion, of the Cross and of the Holy Spirit."

This makes the Stations of the Cross, those Molebens and other items look rather tame by comparison . . .

Alex